Sira I'riane - A Story About An Asari Adept
by Sira-Iriane
Summary: Based on the Multiplayer of Mass Effect 3, this story portraits the events that shape and turn a young Asari into a deadly Reaper fighting biotic Goddess. Currently holds 5 chapters and will be updated weekly as more is written.
1. Chapter 1 - Exodus

**Chapter 1 - Exodus**

Loud music was playing in the streets outside Club Violet Nova, which wasn't an unusual thing. This was one of the Citadel's less known clubs, located in one of the five arms in a back alley neighborhood. As such the club was frequently visited by many shady figures of the Citadel underground. Leaning against the wall at the entrance of the club was a young Asari. Her curves were perfect, her skin was a deep blue. Her face was round and smooth and she was wearing a rather revealing dress. This picture of beauty was getting some air outside when she was approached by several men who intended to have some "fun" with this seemingly defenseless girl. As they advanced towards her the Asari was noticeably getting nervous. However once one of the men grabbed her arm a white flash of light filled the street. But a moment later this beautiful young Asari was gently walking back inside the club as the men lay unconscious on the floor. Her hips had a lovely swing, as her perfectly shaped behind went back and forth several eyes turned her way admiring the sheer beauty of this lovely young lady.

Her name was Sira I'riane, the daughter of an Asari dancer who worked in Club Violet Nova. A stunning beauty as well as a skilled biotic, Sira lived on the Citadel with her mother who still took care of her. As mature as Sira was, she still hadn't reached her maiden stage yet and was as such bound to live with her mother until she was ready to leave the safety of her home and explore the galaxy. It wouldn't be long until she would leave though, already at her young age of 49 Sira was showing the signs of a maiden. Her body was growing and showing more and more signs of becoming a real woman, as well as her mentality which was slowly becoming more intrigued by the idea of exploration and experimentation. The most noticeable change would undoubtedly be her growing fondness of intimate relationships with other species. While her mother was in the club working, Sira would regularly visit and pick up what she found the most attractive of men, women and other genders.

Sira had already melded with a few humans and other Asari when her mother became aware of her daughter's growing desire for experimentation and as mothers are she prohibited Sira from melding until she had become a maiden. However Sira didn't agree with this and did as she saw fit anyway, to which her mother eventually succumbed and let Sira do whatever she wanted. The tension between the two of them was enormous. Sira was the complete opposite of her mother, partially because her father was a Turian. She was very strong willed and more than capable of taking care of herself, and wanted to show that she was in fact already a maiden. On her own Sira ventured through the entire Citadel, exploring as much as she could without leaving the station, to great distress of her mother at times who would find Sira had left their home again.

Then came the day that would change everything. In her travels across the Citadel, Sira had heard rumors of a war going on in the galaxy. That fabled machines called the Reapers had come to the galaxy to wipe out all life. She didn't believe it, she had heard on the news about Saren and Shepard but always thought that the Reapers were a story to scare people into submission and never took the whole thing seriously. But as the rumors became more and more present Sira had become increasingly worried that her life as she knew it would abruptly come to an end. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. During the Cerberus raid of the Citadel, Sira was at home sleeping in, but her mother was in the presidium commons for a business meeting concerning employment in Purgatory Bar. When Sira woke up she couldn't find her mother, she went to Club Violet Nova to look for her only to learn what had happened. How the Citadel was raided by Cerberus, how the presidium commons were the most heavily hit areas, and that her mother had been there.

Sira rushed to the commons herself, not knowing if Cerberus was still there or not. She searched and searched but could not find a single sign of her mother. This at first reassured her, her mother wasn't in the commons when the attack hit, but something in the back of her head continued to make her feel a certain tension in her. On her gut feeling Sira decided to head down to the nearest hospital and asked if they had any records on her mother. Shaking as she asked the cleric if her mother was ok, if she had been taken to a hospital or not. Before the answer came Sira already knew what it was going to be, her mother had indeed received medical treatment but unfortunately died because of her injuries several hours before Sira arrived. The shock of it overwhelmed Sira as she fell down to her knees, she wanted to cry but for some reason she couldn't. It wasn't sadness that had taken hold of her heart, it was anger.

A deep hatred for Cerberus had nested itself inside Sira, the desire to destroy them, to avenge her mother. To avenge the only person who ever really cared for her, even though she disliked so much about her. Disheartened by the news Sira headed to the docks, she wanted to dream away that she could catch a ship off of the station and fight Cerberus, fight these reapers that caused Cerberus to be so aggressive. As she sat on the balcony watching the view she overheard some Alliance Marines talking. Apparently there was a special operatives program where any capable body could volunteer to fight off the reapers. It was a no-brainer for Sira, she knew what she had to do. She rushed home and packed some stuff, including several of her mother's black and red dancing outfits. She knew that she would join this operatives program and fight reapers, and that she would do so wearing her mother's dancing outfit, as a last tribute to her deceased parent. She was motivated and convinced that her biotic abilities would help her reach her goal of taking revenge on Cerberus. Sira went back to the docks, approached the marines and asked about this program. And not much later she was on an Alliance vessel heading towards the operatives HQ, ready to wreak havoc.


	2. Chapter 2 - New Arrivals

**Chapter 2 - New Arrivals**

"Any new recruits will be designated their own bunks for the duration of initial training aboard this frigate. There are no do-overs, there are no mommies to cry to, there are no dolls to play with! Everything you do here will have consequences throughout the entire galaxy so don't screw this up bucket heads!"

The drill Sergeant aboard Alliance frigate Waterloo wasn't known for her eloquence, but she could get the job done. This was the ship Sira would receive her training on. As the Sergeant said, everything here counted already, since there was no actual training program designed for this. New recruits would be dropped straight into action on what were supposed to be shakedown runs where trouble was expected. Plenty of them made it through, although there were some who did not. Training was tough and everything was as real as can be, and this made some of the other recruits nervous. Sira however was as calm as could be, she had nothing to lose and would give herself 100% to succeed, no matter what the odds.

After the Sergeant's very motivating speech explaining how death is common and how new recruits had a life expectancy of half a mission, all the trainees were sent off to their bunks to prepare for their first assignment. Every trainee was assigned a squad and a bunk and were given the details of their assignment for study and planning. How they spent their time until zero hour was up to them, the mission itself would show if they were prepared enough. Sira decided that the best thing to do was jump straight into planning with her squad mates, two human engineers and a human biotic. They were surprised that they had an Asari as their squad mate, since most of the N7 operatives present were human. As Sira tried to go through the details of the mission her stunning looks proved distracting to her companions, this was going to be a lot harder than first expected...

Their mission was simple, a package containing materials for the Alliance Crucible project was to be extracted from a Turian colony. Resistance would be minor if at all present. Together with her squad Sira figured that it wouldn't be necessary bringing heavy arms since they'd have Turian support and as such they would be able to focus on moving the package rather than trying to cover their own flanks from possible ambushes. After they planned out everything they thought had to be planned out the two Engineers decided they wanted to rest, Sira and the other biotic preferred to stay up and spar with each other to see how advanced their techniques were. Together they headed down to the hangar deck of the ship and on the way there they introduced each other to them. His name was Alan, hers was Sira.

While sparring, several of the crew noticed the two new recruits banging it up with their biotics and decided to watch. Alan was a very agile fighter, although not a very offensive one, Sira was the complete opposite. She was used to soaking damage with some of her barriers while throwing and warping everything around her. Everytime Sira managed to get a shot in, Alan dodged it. Every time Alan managed to get a shot in, Sira's barrier soaked the damage. "It's going to take your pretty ass a lot more than just some throw if you want to take me down." Alan was taunting her, so very secure of his own abilities. This was Sira's first actual fight, she had never fought another biotic before, let alone sparred with somebody at all. She only ever used her biotics to fend off drunks and perverts on the Citadel and wasn't sure how much she could actually do. As the fight raged on, more and more crewmembers including the drill Sergeant came to watch the two biotics create a battlefield in the hangar bay of the ship. Alan kept dodging and running around as Sira tried to get rid of everything he could take cover behind.

The drill Sergeant was impressed with the abilities of both biotics. Several hours had passed since their fight started, and every non-essential crew member had gathered inside the hangar bay to watch these two new recruits take each other down. Some had even started a few bets that the cute Asari would get her pretty face pummeled by Alan. There wasn't much left standing in the hangar bay at this point, most crates had been flung to the walls, most chains were warped up against the ceiling. The only thing Alan had left to use for his defense was his own agility. He had come to realize that he couldn't break Sira's barrier with his current level of attack and decided that it would be time to end this. He managed to get behind the Asari and grabbed her, making sure she couldn't get away. As the crowd cheered Sira just let out a small giggle, this was exactly what she had hoped for. She knew how to get out of this one, plenty of lustful drunks had tried this on her back on the Citadel. With a bright white flash Alan was thrown to the wall behind them. The impact was so hard that the bang was audible up to the main deck. Sira walked over to Alan and said "I guess this means I won doesn't it?" With a grin on her face she offered her hand to help him up, but he refused.

She didn't know why he was so angry at her, wasn't this supposed to be a sparring match to see who had the better technique? She wouldn't have been like this if she had lost, why was he acting this childish. Alan stormed off towards their bunks, but as Sira was about to leave the drill Sergeant came to talk to her. "Mighty fine performance there kid, never seen a biotic fight last this long between mere recruits, what's your name?" Sira answered and the Sergeant said she had a special offer, if the first mission would prove successful Sira would be in charge of her own squad of recruits. Obviously she wouldn't be the only one, every promising trainee would be given a squad to see how they handle themselves in a leadership position. Sira gladly accepted, thanked the Sergeant and headed off towards her own bunk to get some rest. When she entered the room a lot of faces turned her way. It was quiet, there was some awe, some despise, some admiration, some jealousy. Sira didn't know how to handle it and just walked straight to her bunk and sat down. You could see some of the younger boys watch her as she took her training suit off and slipped into something more casual. Her smooth skin and perfect curves provided quite a show for some of the more "active" guys in the operative program. Sira ignored them, for now it was time for some shut-eye before the op, she'd need it and she knew that.

The Alliance frigate Waterloo entered the atmosphere of the Turian colony, Sira and her squad were suited up and ready to be dropped of by shuttle as the ship would find a nearby landing pad to touch down and wait for the package to arrive. Alan was still a bit grumpy but was noticeably focused on the task at hand. The two engineers followed the two biotics as they made their way to the settlement where the package was being prepared. So far so good, not a single bit of resistance, no sign of trouble. This would truly be a textbook example of a shakedown run. That was until they actually arrived at the settlement. There was nobody in sight, not a single living being around. Only empty streets and an obvious warehouse where the package was stored. "Oh well, guess they're all still asleep" muttered one of the engineers, but Sira had a bad feeling about this: "I hope so, just watch your back, I don't like this".

When they entered the warehouse and secured the package, the squad heard a howling shriek coming from outside. This was no Turian who was screaming, it was something different. The sound went through bone and marrow as Sira immediately told her companions to take defensive positions and prepare for an assault. The engineers set up at the entrance of the warehouse and placed some traps, they weren't going to get in through there. Alan scouted the rest of the building for any possible entry points but couldn't find any, so he decided that this was the time to get some payback on Sira. "Doesn't look like anything's gonna get in and out of here, good job ****, you got us into this mess, now get us out of it too."

As the assault began, several "monsters" were approaching the warehouse and were easily dispatched by the engineers. Their handguns were still up to the task, but they were worried that once the heavier units would show up they wouldn't stand a chance anymore. While the two of them held ground, Sira tried to open the package to see what was in it. Alan just stood there watching, grinning at how desperate Sira looked. She did feel a bit nervous, they were put in a tight situation with no way out, and they still had to get that damn package out of there. Then she finally managed to get it open and... it was empty. The damned crate was empty. "How is this even possible" gasped Alan. "Are they seriously expecting us to deliver an empty crate?". But Sira knew what happened, the enemy that was assaulting them had already secured the content of the crate and set up a decoy to trap them. The only decision remaining now was, were they going to look for the original package, or simply try to extract themselves out of this messed up situation.

Sira decided that the best course of action would be to forget about the package and just try and make sure everybody got out of this alive. The two engineers were still holding up at the entrance. Sira looked for another way out as Alan just mocked her even more: "I already told you, there's no other exit in this building. Stop being stupid". That wasn't what Sira was looking for though, she knew there was no other exit, and they couldn't go out the existing one. So the only solution was to create another exit. After finding what appeared to be a thin wall leading outside, she went over to the engineers and ordered one of them to set up some explosives on that wall. She took up defensive positions in his place as the engineer went to blow a hole and create their new way out. "That's never going to work and you know it" said Alan who just wanted to see Sira break down. This time Sira answered: "Will you just shut the **** up and do something useful? Do you want to die here? Is getting back at me so important for you that you'd risk not only your own life but the lives of everybody involved in this?"

This made Alan shut up, he didn't expect a response like that. Not much later the other engineer shouted through the building: "THREE! TWO! ONE!" A loud bang blew up the thin wall designated by Sira. "Now! Go! Go! Go!" she shouted as the entire squad rushed outside. Again that howling shriek filled the air. "This way" shouted one of the engineers. They knew they had to get back to the ship now. As they ran through the settlement they shot down any minor enemies they found with their handguns and biotics. Alan was running at the back, still skeptical that Sira could pull this off. The squad eventually made it out and was out in a field heading towards the landing pad where their ship had touched down. They were now in radio contact and explained their situation. Their orders were to dig in and wait for the shuttle to pick them up, which they did. They found a cliff that would provide them backing cover as they took defensive positions behind the rock formations. Quickly they were surrounded by enemies, only now they got a good look at what they were up against. These were truly monster. But Sira recognized these monsters. Some looked like Batarians, others like Turian, some like Humans. They were Reaper forces, synthetics created from the DNA of the galaxy's strongest species.

One enemy in particular eventually caught Sira's attention. As a howling Banshee showed up on the battlefield Sira's courage sank in her boots. "By the Goddess... That's an Asari..." Seeing what the reapers did to her own kind she had momentarily lost all hope of getting out of this situation. Alan only smirked, he had seen Sira break. Now was the time for him to take actions and get things done. Show up as the hero of the day who saved everybody. He started throwing his biotic projectiles into the enemy ranks. Cannibals, Marauders and Husks alike were thrown around as the engineers used their tech abilities to finish them off. Sira was off focus, but helping as well. Causing some biotic explosions together with Alan they managed to hold off the enemy forces until the shuttle arrived. Obviously they couldn't extract in their current position, but the shuttle had a gunner who cleared a path for them. The engineers, Sira and Alan started to head towards their extraction. Without trouble the engineers made it onto the shuttle, Sira was closely following, but Alan had tripped and was lying on the ground ready to be killed by the Reaper forces closing in on him.

Sira wasn't going to let this happen, she turned around and ran back to Alan. The gunner in the turret couldn't fire, he'd risk shooting down Alan and Sira. All they could see was the two biotics getting swarmed by enemies, who would occasionally be sent flying off by powerful biotic abilities. Alan made it back to the shuttle but there was no sign of Sira. Only a swarm of Husks and Cannibals at the location where Sira was supposedly at. The shuttle couldn't wait much longer, they risked getting swarmed themselves. But then a powerful cry from a young Asari could be heard. Enemy forces were flying around like never before and a glowing figure emerged out of the enemy ranks. Sira had found her survival's instinct and was taking out the weaker enemies carving herself a path back to the shuttle. As she reached the door, she jumped for it and a hand pulled her in, it was Alan's. "Thanks" he muttered as the door shut and the shuttle flew off, to get the squad debriefed back on the Alliance frigate, Waterloo


	3. Chapter 3 - Graduation Day

**Chapter 3 - Graduation Day**

"Hey did you hear?"  
- "Hear what?"  
"We're gonna be in the squad of that hot Asari chick, Sira's her name I think?"  
- "Oh really? Awesome, can't wait to get me a piece of that ass!"

Wrapped in blankets in her bunk, Sira was brutally woken up by Alan. It was time for the next assignment! "But I barely slept..." - "We all barely slept Sira..., get your ass out of bed and round up the squad, it's time to deploy" As she grumbled and got out of bed several heads in the dorm turned her way again. Sira couldn't stand the feeling of clothes on her body when she slept so she was always scarcely dressed, if at all, when she was getting out of her bunk. Her perfect curves and smooth blue skin glistened in the dim light of the ship as she put on her combat outfit and got ready for what would be one of her final assignments aboard the Waterloo. It would probably also be the last time she'd be doing an assignment with Alan. The two of them had become relatively close friends since their first assignment together, even though there was still an obvious tension between the two it didn't result in mission-endangering situations anymore.

As she finally managed to squeeze herself into her suit she made her way to the mess hall to meet up with the other two members of their squad, they weren't the two engineers from before, those two had already been placed in different squads that needed an engineerical expertise. This time she'd be meeting up with two new fresh recruits straight from Grissom Academy, two inexperienced biotics, David and Sasha. As young as they might be, their skills with their biotics were obviously advanced enough to be eligible for this special N7 operative program. Sira wasn't used to being a leader, a teacher, somebody people looked up to. This had been the toughest time she ever had in her life. As much as she was capable of, being a leader just wasn't fit for her, but others apparently needed her to be one.

Sasha and David had heard of the beauty and abilities of Sira and now they would be seeing it for themselves. As the Asari approached them David showed an obvious sign of "affection" towards this blue beauty. Sira giggled at him and proceeded to brief them about the mission. The objective was simple, secure a Cerberus facility that had already been assaulted and make sure that it stays under Alliance control. Resistance was expected to be non-existent to minor, yet Sira had a bad feeling about this. Why would two experienced recruits be sent on this mission if they didn't expect resistance?

"So Sira... you into humans?" asked David. "Don't get your hopes up" Sira answered. She was focused on the mission, focused on her purpose, focused on her goal of avenging her mother. She wasn't going to let some horny human teenager get in the way of that. "But what if I can show that I'm worthy of mating with eh? I'll show you what I can do on this mission, you'll be impressed" - "We'll see about that, just don't lose your focus..." Even though Sira didn't mean it, she came across rather harsh and cruel, but David wasn't bothered. He just loved the sound of her voice, how her lips moved when she spoke, he was determined to "conquer" her at all costs, he had to be with her no matter what.

The squad landed on a wild grown planet. Their objective was in the middle of a jungle, and as their luck would have it a thunderstorm had just begun over the area and would appear to be raging on for quite some time yet. "This is ideal" muttered Sira, her clothes were getting wetter by the minute. She didn't wear the standard combat armor, she preferred her own outfits much to the approval of her squad mates who enjoyed looking at her. David and Alan both smirked as they noticed Sira's breasts and nipples were becoming clear to see as her clothes got soaked by the rain. Again Sira just focused on the task at hand: "We can use the storm as a cover to our approach, the clouds block out the sunlight, we just have to make sure we aren't spotted when the lightning flashes show up."

"Aye aye ma'am". David and Alan stayed at Sira's side while Sasha covered their six. The approach to the Cerberus facility went flawless. Apart from a few jungle beasts they encountered there was absolutely no sign of danger. The facility itself appeared deserted when they arrived. "Alan, take care, remember our first mission?" - "I surely do, you think this is another trap?" - "I'm quite sure of it..." Sasha just had to ask what they were on about, Sira explained the details of their first assignment and what had happened. The team continued to scour through the abandoned facility, they saw cages, wild grown plants coming in through some of the broken windows. You'd think that this facility had been abandoned for decades, not days. The lights were off, the doors wouldn't open unless forced open, there was no sign of life apart from the plant life present in the facility.

They entered what seemed to be the central control room of the facility, everything was dark except one monitor. It was showing static snow on its screen, nothing going on here. Sira and Alan looked around to see if they could find anything that would indicate what happened here, David and Sasha covered the exits of the room, there were three of them to be seen. Alan found a switch and flicked it, when he did the lights in the control room turned back on and all the monitors started working again. At least they were powered up, they all showed the same static snow. "What the hell happened here" Sira mumbled as she tried to find some journal entry or replay of what went on.

Suddenly all the screens showed a shrouded man, a silhouette. "We've been expecting you..." All the doors of the control room slammed shut with blast doors, trapping the squad inside. "What the hell! Sira what's going on !?" David shouted across the room. From the other side of the doors there now was an obvious presence, claws were scratching the doors, loud bangs were heard, as if something was trying to break through. Then Alan heard something crawling in the ducts on the ceiling of the room. "OPEN FIRE" he shouted and started shooting, an entire swarm of crawlers came falling down through the holes he shot in the ducts. Sira composed a barrier to keep them away while the other three shot as many of them as they could.

Then one of the doors was smashed open, several varen and a klixen were now making their way into the room. "That's our way out" Sira shouted and began moving towards the smashed open door. Alan and David used their biotics to clear the way. David did his very best, trying to impress Sira as he said he would, throwing the beasts around as hard as he could. As the team made their way through the halls towards the outside they felt a strong tremor through the ground. "Oh not an earthquake on top of all this..." moaned Alan. David kept throwing beasts around behind them to cover their six as they made their way outside. Once they reached the open air Sira dropped their barrier and the squad split up to be able to properly cover each other from any beasts approaching them.

Sira then saw the most horrid thing she had ever witnessed. Sasha had stopped moving and screamed in agony as his skin started melting. A strong acid had covered him and just as he was about to fall down a thresher maw burst up from the ground and swallowed him whole. Alan and David didn't see this, but Sira did... As she tried to cope with what she just saw, she noticed the thresher maw had gone back underground and was now moving towards Alan. "WATCH OUT!" She shouted, Alan turned around and saw the ground split open, moving towards him. "What the...!" he mumbled as a thresher maw suddenly came shooting up through the ground right in front of him.

David saw it this time, and shot his biotic abilities at the thresher maw trying to distract it. His blows landed hard enough to confuse the creature momentarily, allowing Alan to escape imminent death. Sira ran towards them and ordered her two remaining companions to run to open clearing as fast as she could. She contacted the shuttle and they were heading towards that same clearing to pick up the three remaining squad members. As Sira, David and Alan ran through the jungle, trees around them started smoking and burning through. The thresher maw was in hot pursuit, spitting his acid at the three N7 operatives in an attempt to secure his meal.

They finally made it to the clearing in the jungle, they would be safe as soon as they were under the shuttle's gun which would provide them the necessary cover to board. Just as they made it out of the tree line a splurge of acid hit Alan. His screams went through bone and marrow as the corrosive liquid tore through his armor and onto his skin. Burning in agony Alan fell to the ground. Sira and David immediately responded and carried him onto the shuttle and they took off towards the Waterloo. Once there Alan was immediately taken to med bay, Sira followed closely. She wouldn't leave her only friend alone through this.

As Alan was stripped out of his combat armor a clear relief filled Sira. He was alive, although severely burned in several locations. Alan got lucky, his thick armor kept the actual acid from reaching his own body. The only injury he had was that parts of his suit had melted onto his skin. He lied there unconscious as Sira watched how the medical staff treated Alan's wounds. A tear ran down Sira's cheek.

Suddenly two arms grabbed her from behind. A comforting feeling coursed through her body as the warmth of another person touched her own cold and wet body. It was David. "I came as soon as I got out of my combat suit, I figured you could use a friend." Sira turned around and hugged him back, crying on his shoulder. She was still dressed in her soaked outfit she wore on the planet. "Thank you" she muttered. Sira and David decided to leave Alan in the caring hands of the medical staff. David went to the mess hall and Sira went for a hot shower. Once she came out and got dressed again the Drill Sergeant approached her.

"Sira I'riane, congratulations on your last mission." Still sobbing and with bloodshot eyes from her crying Sira replied "But the mission was a complete disaster..." - "That it was, but you finally learned everything an N7 operative should know, the feeling of defeat and loss. You lost a squad member today and almost had to say farewell to your closest friend. This my dear is something all of us have to live with. You are now a fully-fledged member of our special N7 operative program and as such you will be assigned to an Alliance cruiser for more advanced and complicated missions. As I said miss I'riane, congratulations. Oh and one last thing, we knew the facility was abandoned, we just didn't think that the casualty rate would be so... extreme. My apologies for that."

Sira didn't know what to think. The Alliance had set this up to teach her how to deal with defeat, instead she was forced to learn how to deal with the loss of life. She needed time to think, time to unwind. She had to relax but didn't know how to do so. Only one thing went through her mind as to how she could relax. Sira went to the mess hall and approached David. "Looks like you get your wish..." She grabbed his hand and dragged him off...


	4. Interlude 1 - The Night With David

I**nterlude - The night with David**

Sira was sitting in the port observation deck, just right outside her bunk room. After her intimate and passionate moment with David, Sira had come here to think about her last mission. Sharing their bunk for the night, David had woken up from the lack of another body beside him and he decided to go look for his missing love. As he strolled around the crew deck he finally made it to the port observation and found Sira sitting on one of the couches, staring into the darkness of space. Her smooth blue skin was once more glistening in the dim light of the ship, her perfect curves showed her body. Her firm shoulders, her flat stomach, even her perky breasts were visible. As were her tight legs and even...

"Why are you sitting here naked Sira, what's wrong?" - "Well nobody comes here this time of night anyway, and you know I don't tend to like the smothering feeling of clothes..." - "That's not what I asked, what's wrong?" - "It's just..." Sira went quiet and stared at the floor, David went to sit next to her. "I'm here if you need a comforting shoulder to cry on." Sira didn't say anything and just rested her head on David's shoulder while some tears ran down her cheek. David hesitated to put his arm around her, even though they had just been intimate together. This was different, this was a naked young woman, vulnerable, sad, hurt. David didn't quite know how to handle this, but he put his arm around her anyway. "Thank you for being there for me" Sira whispered as she cried. "I'll always be there if you need me, Sira..."

Some time had passed without a word being said, Sira broke that silence starting with a gentle kiss on the cheek for David. He replied "Y'know, you're the first time I've ever been together with an Asari. It's... better than I imagined." - "I guess that's a good thing then." Sira kissed David on his lips and sat on his lap. "What we just did in the bunk wasn't the entirety of what it's like though..." Sira's eyes turned dark as she took David's shirt off. She kissed him again and moved her hips in place... "Embrace eternity..."

As Sira and David melded together, David could finally feel the extent of Sira's pain and distress. She was broken, she had suffered too many losses on a short time. Her mother, Sasha, and now almost Alan. She had a rivalry with Alan, but she cared for him for some reason. Maybe because he was the only person she felt some kind of connection with, that is until she met David. But the thought of losing her close ones deeply upset her. David could sense how much Sira missed her mother, how her hatred for Cerberus burned within her heart. He could feel her panic and distress when she saw Sasha get killed by the tresher maw. His screams of agony had wounded Sira's heart in a way only Death wounds those around its victim.

As Sira kissed David again her eyes turned back to normal. Her breath was heavy and fast, but so was David's. "By the Goddess..." Sira moaned, "that was..." David put his finger on Sira's tender lips "Don't say anything" and kissed her. They spent the remaining time in a loving embrace before Sira gave David his final kiss on the cheek and walked off towards her bunk to put some clothes on, it was almost time for the Waterloo to wake up after all. Sira's walk was steady but her hips portrayed a noticable pain living within her, as strong as she looked, deep inside she was still a little girl thrown into the world and left to fend for herself. Even though she already considered herself a maiden, truth was Sira still wasn't entirely ready for that stage in her life. But that wouldn't stop her from being who she was.

Her smooth blue skin again glistened in the dim light of the ship as the crew started to wake up, several heads in the bunkroom turned towards Sira as she was putting her clothes on. This night was a night to remember, and even though Sira's heart was filled with hatred and pain, this night had put a smile on her face. A smile visible only to those who bothered to look at Sira beyond her beauty and looked at the tender person she was on the inside.


	5. Chapter 4 - Time For The Big League

**Chapter 4 - Time for the Big League  
**  
Sira rolled around in her bunk, restless, worried... This was her last "night" on the Waterloo, the coming day she would be transferred to the cruiser SSV Stockholm. It was both a reward and a punishment for her. She had completed her training and was joining a -real- N7 squad. But at the same time... She would have to leave behind Alan and David. It's not like she had a choice in the matter though, her orders were to transfer; so that's what she was going to do. As the Waterloo slowly came back to life after a night's sleep, Sira began her morning rituals as usual.

Several heads of the younger recruits turned her way as her silky blue skin appeared from under her blankets. Her gentle shoulders first followed by her perky breasts. Her flat stomach with the most amazing curves following behind it. She got used to the staring, she got used to being the most attractive female in her bunk. Casually she put on her uniform, since she was now an official N7 operative and no longer a recruit, Sira was finally allowed to wear the uniform. Her pre-packed bag from the night before was right under her bed, all she had to do was pick it up and she was ready to leave. During the night some of the newer recruits had taken the liberty to write some goodbye notes and pinned them onto her bag.

"Farewell Blue Rose, we'll miss staring at your boobs in the morning!"  
- "Thank you for all the fantasies xxx"  
"Good luck turning on the crew of SSV Stockholm, sweetheart"

One of the notes was David's. It didn't have much on it. She kinda expected some sweet words, a long farewell, a love letter. But all he wrote was "You and I both know this isn't the end of us". Sira smiled, grabbed her bag and left her bunk behind her. It was time to report to the drill Sergeant, who'd escort her to the shuttle. On her way there Sira decided to stop by the med bay, to visit Alan. He was still recovering from his close encounter with the tresher maw, and was still asleep when Sira stopped by. She mumbled her goodbye to him...

"Corporal I'riane reporting for duty, Sir!"  
- "Ah, right on time I see!" The Sergeant smiled at her. "Today's your big day!" Her eloquence surpassed all expectations yet again. Sira was going to miss her, if only a little. She was nervous about the people on the Stockholm. Some rumors talked about how any new hand on that cruiser had to prove themselves worthy of serving on it. A tradition the crew had since the First Contact War. The Stockholm was part of a spearhead fleet. They are the ones who go in first and come out the last. Supported by several small frigates this cruiser is quite literally ahead of the pack when any fight happens. "Are you all right?" The Sergeant asked. - "Yeh, just a little sleepy still I guess." Sira shrugged, trying not to show her worried thoughts.

As she boarded the shuttle, the pilot from the Stockholm greeted her and explained how they'll be travelling. Basically, the Waterloo was going to jump out of system on route to its new mission, while only the shuttle stays behind waiting for the Stockholm to jump in. "Pretty standard procedure for us, so don't worry about it". As the shuttle undocked Sira caught a last glimpse of the Waterloo, making its way to the nearest Mass Relay. This was it, she was now officially part of the Stockholm's crew. Several hours later the Stockholm jumped into system, it was a flawless transit from frigate to cruiser.

Aboard the Stockholm the pilot told her that her orders were to drop her bag off in her new bunkroom and then report to the Captain. Sira ventured through the ship, she could feel the eyes of the crew burning into her skull. She was the first non-human assigned to this vessel. Which was both a curse as well as a gift. It meant that Fleet Command had decided to Sira was capable enough to be part of a spearhead fleet, but at the same time she felt that she wasn't welcome aboard the Stockholm. In her bunkroom it was obvious which bunk was hers, the only one that was empty. She put her bag on her bed and immediately made her way to the Captain's Quarters.

Captain Wayne wasn't quite what she had expected. Catherine Wayne was a young woman, not much older than 25, which came to a big surprise for Sira. "Take a seat, Corporal." Barely hesitating, Sira found the nearest chair and sat on it. "I'm going to keep this very short. As you know you are the first alien to be assigned to our cruiser. This means that the crew will treat you differently than they would a human. You see we have a tradition here aboard the Stockholm. Every new crewmember needs to prove themselves worthy. How they do that is always different. But you have to show loyalty, courage, companionship, a resilient attitude and physical prowess. We are the best of the best. We are the spearhead!" Sira just nodded and hummed at what the Captain said. "Any questions?" Sira nodded. "All right, then let me be the first to welcome you aboard the Stockholm Corporal." She reached out her hand, Sira shook it and smiled. "Now, dismissed."

Unsure of what to do, Sira headed towards the mess hall to blend in with the rest of the crew and see what they were like. Most of them just greeted her, not paying too much attention, she was after all just a new crewmember. As she sat down at a table a certain individual came to stand beside her. "That's where I sit, darling. You must be new here, because everybody knows that's where I sit." Sira didn't know how to react, with the Captain's words fresh in her memory she simply replied: "Well, can't you sit somewhere else then? Cause I'm sitting here now." The crew around them went quiet and started looking at them. "No I think you didn't hear me right, this is where I always sit, and you're gonna move now."

Sira started to get nervous. Should she move over, or stand her ground. Inside of her she was going through all the different things she could do, hoping one of them would be the right one. But then she remembered something her mother once told her. "My baby girl, whenever you find yourself in a conflicted situation, just do what your heart tells you. Don't think over it, just do it." So Sira stood up, looked the man right in the eye and told him. "I'm sitting here now, and you better get used to it." The two of them stood there staring at each other for what seemed an eternity. The entire mess hall was quiet and focused on them. Sira was trembling in her boots, she was sure this was going to lead to a fight.

Instead the man laughed. "Nice one kid, seems like you're made out of the right material. Lieutenant Ramirez is the name, but you can call me José. 'Cause you're cute." He winked, Sira was shocked. This was just a test, a rather obvious one now that she thought about it. "Erm... okay... I'm Corporal I'riane. But I guess you can call me Sira then?" José smiled and sat down next to her. "Look kid, I know you're new here, and it's quite obvious since you're the only non-human. Lemme give you a piece of advice. We aren't that bad. But it takes a certain personality to be part of Spearhead. You need to push yourself over your own limits. Whenever we go in, we are already dead. If we come back out alive then that's more than we bargained for." Sira just felt a little out of place already. This conversation went from bright to very serious in only a single phrase. "Now don't worry about that too much, some of the other crew might still 'test' your resolve to see if you're really Spearhead material. But I think you'll fit right in."

Just as Sira was about to respond the entire cruiser was put on high alert. All crewmembers were to report to station immediately! Ramirez told Sira to simply follow him and stick by his side, since she hadn't gotten a function on the ship yet. Full ship alerts were rare he explained, so this was something serious. "Don't get cold feet now, kid. The fun's just about to begin." Ramirez headed up to the bridge where the Captain informed them about the situation. They had received an urgent distress call from another ship which was ambushed in a different system and required immediate assistance. Based on the message that ship was on the brink of destruction and couldn't hold out much longer. The Stockholm was the nearest cruiser available for assistance, or search and rescue.

In all the commotion nobody kept an eye on Sira, who seemingly turned to stone. The ship that had sent the distress call was the Waterloo...


	6. Chapter 5 - Back Into The Tin Can

**Chapter 5 - Back into the Tin Can  
**  
Ramirez snapped his fingers in front of Sira's face: "Hey, you ok?" Sira looked up and said "Oh? Yeh I guess. It's just..." - "I know, don't worry." While the rest of the crew was preparing a search and rescue mission, Ramirez and Sira took some time apart, under Captain's orders. She told Sira to take a moment and decide where she wanted to be, and ordered Ramirez to stick with her no matter what.

"Look kid, I'm sure everybody on the Waterloo is fine. It's rare to see ambushes like this, but everybody is well prepared for them." Sira was strolling around the room. "I... that's not the point Jones..." - "José... but continue" - "The point is, I know a lot of the people on that ship are people like me. People who've never seen any real action and are getting steamrolled into it. Ambushes like that aren't part of assignments. This is unprepared..." Ramirez looked at her swinging hips as she walked around. "Are you sure that's what's bothering you?" - "Yes... Now what can we do about this..."

Nervous and worried as she was, Sira's mind was just blank. All she could think of was Alan and David. What could have happened to them, if they were still alive. She just wanted to get into a combat suit and be on the first shuttle heading in. "Then do that, kid. Go get a combat suit, arm up and get ready. The Captain didn't tell you you couldn't, now did she?" That was exactly what she needed to hear. Storming through the ship Sira was on her way to the armory, then suddenly stopped. "What's wrong kid?" - "Erm... where's the armory?"

After Ramirez had shown her the way she was looking at the arrangements of weapons. Several marines were already ahead of them, getting ready to board the shuttles that would take them to the Waterloo, if it was still there. She noticed all of them looked different. None of them had any sort of uniform. One marine was wearing a full body suit with a bright pink armguard, with a little girl on it. Another one was only armoring his shoulders, torso and shins. A little surprised Sira started to look around for any weapon that would fit her.

"Hey, where do you keep the SMGs?" - "They're all over here, so you're the full automatic handgun type eh?" Sira didn't prefer weapons, but she always carried one in case she would need it. On the Waterloo there was only a very limited amount of weapons to choose from, but the Stockholm did have a much more varied armory. Eventually Sira picked up a Hurricane submachine gun and put a thermal clip in it. "This one feels right, think I'll stick to it." Ramirez went to find his usual handgun and assault rifle. a Pretty standard Eagle and Vindicator.

After a short briefing by the officer leading the marines they were locked and loaded, ready to go. Sira and Ramirez boarded one of the shuttles that was bound to be within the first 3 leaving the hangar and waited for the Stockholm to hit the Mass Relay. Throughout the entire ship the status info was announced. "Reaching the Mass Relay in 3 minutes". Sira just looked at the floor, staring at her SMG in her hands. "It'll be fine kid, don't you worry. If they're unharmed then it's all fine, if they're not then you've got something worth fighting for." Sira just looked up with a very cold expression on her face. "I already do..."

The Stockholm with its frigate support fleet hit the Mass Relay and arrived in the star system were the distress call had come from. First scans from the CIC showed no signs of hostile forces in their vicinity. All that they could find was the Waterloo adrift in space, no power, no engines. The fleet positioned itself in a defensive formation as they launched their shuttles to send marines aboard the lifeless ship. Sira's shuttle was the second to leave the Stockholm, in total 5 ships from their fleet were sent off to board with the Waterloo. "Here it comes..." Sira mumbled, almost as if she was in trance.

As the marines boarded the frigate, there was no sign of life nor any sign of a struggle. The crew had simply vanished. Ramirez and Sira joined up with a squad and they explored the vessel. Deck by deck they scoured through the ship for any clue what had gone on here. It was almost a ghost ship. No lights, no power, no life. Even the automated doors wouldn't open and had to be manually cranked open. Squad after squad reported the same thing.

Then out of nowhere, an entire reaper fleet entered the system, blocking off all escape. The Stockholm and its fleet fought of the vanguard of the enemy forces as they retreated from the bulk of the reaper forces. The Waterloo with the marines on it were currently left alone like sitting ducks as the spearhead fleet engaged combat to protect itself. Just at that moment the frigate came to life.

Sira and Ramirez were in the medical bay as the lights turned back on and the engine started humming. Ramirez was baffled and shouted "What the hell is this!" while Sira just looked at him and started running. The marine squad who was with them had no choice but to follow her. She headed straight for engineering, she had heard some of the engineers talk about things during meals. How the only way to bring this ship online while it was out cold in space was to overcharge the capacitors of the main gun and then re-route that power to the engines. The only way this ship could have come back alive was if somebody was in engineering doing that at this very moment.

When they reached their destination they found a man operating the controls to the power grid. "Who are you?" But he didn't respond, he just kept pushing the buttons, doing whatever it was he was doing. "Answer me! Who are you?". The man looked up at them, Sira didn't recognize him but he had a weird look in his eyes. "I'm currently not here, please leave a message after the beep." and turned back to the control panel. Nobody aboard knew what he was doing, but board the Stockholm they could easily track the movements of the Waterloo.  
The man itself clearly had no access to the ship's control, he just brought the engines online. But the ship was headed towards the nearest planet at maximum velocity.

Clearly unable to get any further with the mysterious engineer Sira, Ramirez and the marine squad headed to the hangar and the escape pods, to see if they were still there. At least this relieved Sira's concerns when she saw all the pods had made it off the ship, it meant that the crew managed to maintain emergency power long enough for the escape pods to unlock and launch. "We need to report this in to the Stockholm", Ramirez ordered the marines to head towards the bridge and use the communications array to hail the Stockholm. "I will stay here with Corporal I'riane and make our way back to the shuttles.

Captain Wayne who was now aware of the situation ordered one of their frigates to break free from the fleet and do a thorough search for the escape pods while the rest of them would turn back and engage the reaper forces head on. All marines from the Waterloo were recalled back to the Stockholm. They were going to let the Waterloo escape, rescue the crew from the escape pods and punch their way through the reaper fleet to escape through the Mass Relay. Which would be easier said than done.

Back aboard the Stockholm, Sira barged straight to the armory to get out of her combat suit. Ramirez who was still forced to follow through his orders went with her. "Hey kid are you ok?" - "Yeh I'm fine!" Sira however was rather tensed up from this whole experience. She had hoped to find her friends healthy and safe aboard the Waterloo. Still unsure about their faith Sira was emotionally reaching her own limits. As she got out of her suit she told Ramirez that she'll take a shower and wait for the rescued crew, so she can go see if her friends made it or not.

She stored her armor and weapons and head to her bunk. Ramirez did follow her but he waited in the room while Sira would undress and get ready to shower. As she took her clothes off she completely forgot Ramirez was in the room with her. It's as if she had gotten completely lost inside her own head. She threw her shirt and pants on the bed, then walked over to the shower, naked and confidently. Her hips swinging their usual swing and her curves as perfect as always. As she turned the water on and felt the soft, soothing warmth of the water she collapsed. She just sat down in the shower and started to cry, letting the water fall down on her and slide over her body. All she wanted right now was for David to hold her, or for Alan to tell one of his dirty jokes over lunch.

Sira wasn't ready for this, she didn't want to leave the Waterloo let alone find it ambushed and its crew missing the first day of her new assignment. At this moment it had all gotten too much for her. Right now, she was just a broken girl sitting naked in her shower.


End file.
